| For an easier life |
Circulation: 197,348,726 |
Issue: 979 | 24th day of Running, Y25 |
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Short Stories
 | I Fought Jhudora on Illusen Day and Lost"It was a sunny day in Meridell as the morning mist finally cleared. The sky was blue, the Draiks were hatching, and the cheese was rolling..."
by chesschocolate |  | A Spring Day in the Glade"One early spring morning, you decide to take a stroll through the Faerieland forest..."
by iwonder |  | A Missing Invitation"A sour, noxious smell followed the purple and green clouds that rolled like fog into Illusen’s Glade..."
by emma_manatee |  | Illusen’s RequestIllusen Day is not the same when it’s raining. Nothing that a good story can’t fix.
by greencheese79 |  | Illusen's New Quest"It was peaceful. Except, of course, for the piles of items scattered around her."
by saqo |  | Breaking Illusions"Surprisingly, though, Cehani had never met Illusen. Never meet your heroes. This phrase she had heard stuck with her."
by candylandtheonomy |  | A Symol MatterHow do you handle Symols at the farm?
by kadface |  | Bright Glade, Shadowed Forest"She hadn’t been offering quests at her glade for very long; she’d started relatively recently, after hearing that Jhudora had started out giving quests back in Faerieland."
by cookybananas324 |
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The Ecology of Neopia
The land of Neopia is vast and wondrous, with countless mysteries waiting to be solved and incredible discoveries happening every day. Welcome to another edition of “Science with the Seekers,” where scientists from around Neopia share their expertise with the world.
As this is a collaborative effort, Neopians involved will be listed in the acknowledgements at the end.
What is Ecology?
Put simply, Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and their environment. There are multiple tiers of this scientific study, but we will focus on four of them today: organismal, population, community, and ecosystem. Each of these tiers build upon one another and grow in complexity with each jump.
Organismal Ecology
Organismal Ecology is the study of how a single organism interacts with its environment. More specifically, the adaptations that allow it to survive. We’ll focus on a few Neopian examples, namely the Bori and the Buzz, two opposites in this spectrum. Bear in mind that both of these examples have exceptions. For example, Ice Buzz and Fire Bori follow the opposite trends.
The Bori:
Built for the cold, this species of Neopet is hardy. Thick fur covers much of their body to retain warmth in even the harshest of days (temperatures of -50C have been recorded near the peak of Terror Mountain). Additionally, this species has armour-like dorsal (back) plating to aid in deflecting wind. Both of these are considered anatomical adaptations for heat retention. Bori tend to be short-legged and spend much of their time close to the ground as a means of reducing heat loss from convection (i.e. the wind stealing heat from their body) and have physiological (internal regulatory) mechanisms to reduce heat loss through something called “countercurrent exchange.” This process works by having blood vessels leaving the heart (where blood is warmer) being tucked next to the veins that are returning to the heart. It’s almost like a keeping a cup of hot cocoa...
Other Stories
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 Illusen's Lament
"The field of flowers seemed to go on forever. Tiny creatures flitted from flower to flower, pausing for pollen before moving on. Two faeries sat in the field looking around."
by kaioti |
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